


Broken Cycle

by androidkisser



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Graphic Description, Healing, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 20:44:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10907133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/androidkisser/pseuds/androidkisser
Summary: **Post-concert materials**





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Whew, I feel like this one is long overdue.  
> For once, the Explicit rating isn't for lewd, too! Amazing! ...sorta.  
> I hope this scratches the itch a few people were feeling, and I MAY possibly write a second chapter if I think of enough good material to fill it.
> 
> As usual, please leave any criticisms in the comments and enjoy (*ﾉ∀`*)

“Proposal: Unit 9S should –”

“Not... right now, Pod...” grunted 9S. He barely had enough strength left in him to keep up his slow, trudging pace. Putting one foot in front of the other took all of his willpower. Half of his parts didn't feel like they were his yet. They didn't quite work as they should. His legs didn't quite bend the way he wanted. All his body ached to do was to lie down in place. To go into rest mode for a very, very long time.

But that wasn't possible right now.

His arms screamed for him to release his charge, but he didn't care. His arms, his hands – they were pristine. _2B's weren't_ , he thought, as he looked down at her. Her hands were ruined. Her arms still had weapons jammed into them crudely. If he stopped now, he didn't deserve any of this. Didn't deserve her. All that mattered now was getting back to the camp. The entrance was even visible from where he was. Just a few more minutes. A hundred or so steps, he figured. That was nothing.

He hadn't even thought of anything else since he'd found himself being held tightly by her. He'd known it was her instantly – known that it wasn't some kind of a machine trap. She had collapsed on top of him as soon as she'd seen him awake, and he had instantly gone into a panicked frenzy. He didn't think twice before picking her up in his arms. He wouldn't lose her again. Not ever.

Anemone rushed at him as he took his last few weary steps towards the room she'd given them.

“9S?! You're... oh, gods...” Her eyes fell to 2B in his arms.

“Staunching... gel... salve... whatever you have... bring... inside...” It was all he could muster. As much as he knew how important it was to get her here, he had his limits.

She nodded quickly. “I'll get some of the others together too, see if we can all –”

“ _No_ ,” stated 9S, kicking the door open with strength he didn't know he had left. “I'll do it... it has to be me...”

“Right,” she said, running off to grab whatever she could find.

Inside their room, he lay her down on the bed as gently as he could – still she groaned softly in her half-sleep, and he cursed himself for not being able to be more delicate in his current state. He kneeled down beside her, brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead softly. Even now, covered in dirt and blood, she was so beautiful. He placed a finger gingerly on one of the combat bracers embedded deep in her forearm, making sure not to move it even slightly.

“Oh, 2B...” he whispered. It hurt him physically to see what she had done to herself for his sake. Not that he wasn't grateful to finally get to be with her again, but –

“This is everything we have,” said Anemone, panting, and tossing tens of packs of various salves, balms, dressings and lotions to the floor in front of him. “I know you want to – have to – do this yourself, but... if you _do_ need anything...”

“I know... thank you,” he said, before turning his attention back to her, as Anemone closed the door behind herself.

He knew he'd have to do something about the pain – he couldn't just rip those things out of her arms, or she'd go insane. He pulled the bed into the middle of the room, to give himself a little more room to work with.

 _Okay_ , he thought, _I guess I'll have to..._

He swallowed hard. He always made a point to never hack into her unless she gave her word, no matter what. Without that, it felt...

_No, no... this is too important... no time for that kind of thinking..._

He took a deep breath, raising his hands and hoping his hacking module was still intact. Thankfully, he found that it initiated without any real difficulty, other than a feeling of stiffness, or disuse.

He didn't waste any time rushing through her automatic barriers – had she been awake, she would've disabled them for him to give him an easier time, but this was just a natural response to an invader, which is what he was right now. He made a dash right for her nerve centre, and started to take apart the subsystems there, as quickly as possible; he didn't want her to be exposed to any undue stress. He couldn't disable the pain receptors entirely, because doing that would shut down several other important autonomous functions, but he _could_ tune them to such a level that with numbing balms, the pain would be... hopefully tolerable.

He backed out, taking a moment to regain his senses.

_Alright, next..._

He hastily unwrapped a pack of that balm, his hands shaking. He hoped she wouldn't feel the initial sting before it started to do its job. He lightly squeezed the packet, making sure it was spread evenly all over the exposed skin and artificial muscle that had been displaced by the cruel metal.

_Is one enough? No, I won't take any chances..._

He knew he was being selfish. He knew there wasn't an unlimited supply of this stuff. But right now, she came first, before him, before Anemone, before anyone.

He tore the top of a second packet and upended it over the entry point of the bracer, before lightly and tenderly massaging it into the gash. She squirmed a little, but her face didn't look to be in pain. He tried to take solace in that.

He was terrified at what had to come next. Hacking was no problem, but this? This was going to be a nightmare, for both of them. He trembled, and as gently as he could, pulled back the skin surrounding the weapon. He would have thrown up, were it possible. It was deeply embedded in her frame – circuitry had been severed, and there were servos dented and pushed out of place. The one saving grace was that no part of the bracer was serrated or barbed in any way – there was nothing that should tear any more of her up on the way out. He hoped. It had only stayed in through her repeated smashing it into the ground, over and over again.

He took a hold of it, tentatively, his vision focusing on her face every few seconds, just to be sure he wasn't causing her too much pain or discomfort.

Just one light tug at it revealed a huge problem, as blood spilled everywhere, and he was forced to push it back up again. She had severed one of the synthetic arteries that carried her artificial blood to her extremities; the weapon was pressed tightly against the opening, holding back the flow of it like a dam.

 _Shit..._ he thought, _shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit_

What could he do? He felt... powerless, all of a sudden. Out of his depth. With the Bunker gone, there was no easy access to a fresh supply, and there was absolutely no way he was risking any kind of a transfusion from a non-YoRHa android.

“Okay,” he said to himself out loud, perhaps to steady himself. He had already made up his mind on what had to be done. As it was, she didn't appear to have lost that much blood, so long as the weapon remained in place, acting as a barrier. He knew enough about android anatomy to know that the extremities such as the hands and feet couldn't be damaged from lack of blood supply – they'd simply be useless until the connection was remade. That was reassuring, at least. All he had to do was make sure that he had something to act as another barrier the instant he pulled the weapon past the artery.

 _All I have to do... yeah, right..._ It was going to be a lot more challenging than he thought to do this alone. He lifted his hands again, preparing to hack back in. He figured this probably wouldn't be the last time, either.

Once inside, he again fought past the firewalls, despite his mental exhaustion. He was desperately trying to locate the area where her vitals were stored, before he was overwhelmed by her defences, which were especially strong here – and for good reason. After a long search, he found what he was looking for, the data on her black box's pulse rate. If he lowered it, there'd be a lot less risk of critical blood loss, without endangering any part of her. Still, it felt... _wrong_ to be tampering with all of this. He'd do it to himself without a moment's hesitation, but... He shook his head again. _No choice._

It was done. Now he just... had to decide how he was going to put a stopper in the artery. He had no way of holding anything in place against it. Reconnecting them wasn't an option yet – the removal of these had to come first. He reluctantly made a decision on her behalf; something he felt absolutely sickened with, but knew was necessary nonetheless. He'd have to pinch it, and hold it steady until the Pod could move in and cauterise it. She wouldn't have any feeling or control of her lower arm at all until he fixed the rest of it up, but... it was this, or risk losing her altogether, and that simply wasn't an option. He couldn't count on anyone finding any more suitable replacements; as far as he was concerned, these were the only bodies they'd get from this point on, and he also didn't want her to have to use something that never belonged on her in the first place. He wanted her to be entirely her. He had to fix this arm. _Hers._

He slipped his gloves off, and called for 153 to stand by.

 _Okay_ , he thought. _I can do this. I have to do this. For her._

He wrapped one hand around the only edge of the weapon there was available to use as leverage, and prepared the other to pinch the artery shut until 153 could move in. He knew there'd be a bare minimum amount of blood loss – the Pod would have to wait between the pulses of her black box to cauterise it.

He moved swiftly; his left hand deftly pulled the weapon past the safe point, and his right hand moved in to –

_Shit!_

It was loose, and the synthetic material was far more slippery than he imagined it would be with bare hands. He couldn't grip it at all, and he was panicking, as even with her lowered pulse, blood was oozing its way all over the floor.

“Pod, just do it now!”

“Negative. It is too dangerous to attempt cauterisation procedures without the target being properly secur –”

“ _Shit!_ ”

All he could do was keep fumbling – fumbling and grasping and clawing to hold it still. Eventually, he managed to pinch it below the severed edge, and 153 swiftly closed it off, but...

She had lost a lot of blood, and it pooled on the floor at his feet. With a lowered pulse, it was dangerous to leave her that way – and he still had another arm to go. He looked down, knowing what he had to do. It terrified him – what if it left him in such a state that he was unable to keep going?

_No, I'll find a way to keep going... just like she did._

He took the empty package of the numbing balm in his hand. He stood up straight, and sliced his thigh open on the exposed edge of the weapon still lodged in 2B's arm. He grimaced, and winced, but tried not to make any sound. He kneeled, collecting as much of the blood as he could in the empty packet, before it began to clot and stop flowing freely. Luckily, he wouldn't have to waste any time finding or making any elaborate equipment to get it into her – so long as it found its way into her body, it was fine. Unlike humans, android bodies weren't picky about such things. He made an expression that told a tale of absolute distaste as he handed over the package for 153 to clutch. He was rifling through box after box in their room, trying to find something he could tear apart for –

“Hypothesis: if Unit 9S could locate a water purification module, the tubing could be used for the intended purpose.”

“Got it,” he said, already ripping the components clean out of the unit he had found halfway through the Pod's sentence. He was somewhat astounded she'd known what he had planned, but didn't question it.

He rubbed some more of the numbing balm into 2B's shoulder – as much as he didn't want to, he had to find a place on her that wasn't damaged, or that would put the tube at risk of being dislodged – before making a tiny incision with the very tip of a standard-issue Resistance dagger, just wide enough to insert the tube into. He cut the corner from the bag, and inserted the tube into that side, allowing his blood to flow freely into her, with 153 hovering, and ensuring nothing came loose.

 _There_ , he thought, taking a step back to look at the scene. It looked so decidedly... human. It was where he had gotten the idea from after all, but even so... was it really okay? _Of course it's alright,_ he reassured himself, _if it keeps her alive, anything's alright._

Now, at least, he was able to pull the weapon from her arm in its entirety, resting it against the wall. Her arm was in such a horrific state. But that would have to come later. All he could do for now was pack the wound with staunching gel, and cover the surface with as much salve as he could.

As he tentatively pulled at the other arm's rudimentary attachment after applying more balm, he was beyond relieved to see that he wouldn't have to go through the same thing twice – it slipped clean out, with only a tiny amount of blood along with it.

 _Still_ , he thought _,_ looking at the now-empty bag hanging from 153, and then to the pool on the floor, _that wasn't enough for how much is there..._

He sliced just below the first cut on his thigh again, and refilled the bag as much as he felt comfortable with – he felt a little light headed, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Their blood _did_ replenish itself, just... not at a rate he felt comfortable leaving 2B with.

As he was applying the staunching gel to the other arm, he heard a sound he wasn't ready to hear yet, as she began to stir.

_No, shit... not yet..._

“Ni...nes...?”

“I'm here, 2B, I'm here,” he whispered, rushing to the top of the bed so he could stroke her forehead, over and over, and over, and over.

“Nines... it hurts...”

He had to fight back tears, hearing that. It hadn't been enough.

“I know, 2B, I know it does, but I'm fixing it, and...”

She opened her eyes to look at his face, and smiled for him – it was a pained smile, but it was still her smile, and it filled him with the love that only she could provide.

“Of course... you are...” she murmured, before fading out again.

 

**

 

9S barely slept over the next few days. He upped her pulse rate, bit by bit, to check that nothing would go wrong, until finally it was back where it started. He stayed by her side, day and night, reapplying small amounts of gel on the hour, every hour, so that he could guarantee her some rest. He had bound both of her arms with cloth, tightly, so that the wounds weren't exposed to the elements – on her left arm, he had entirely pieced the artificial skin back together with help from 153. On her right, it was simply held together with the fabric. Android tissue didn't heal large cuts or gashes naturally, but he wasn't ready to start attempting to fix that yet. He wanted to get everything else as back to normal as it could be before he dared to open that up again.

She woke up, sometimes. She'd pat his head with the mostly recovered arm, still unable to use the hand, but letting it lightly rest on his forehead as he kneeled beside her.

“I'm getting more replacement parts tonight,” he said, before taking that hand in his and kissing the fingers gently. She could just about feel things with it again now, which 9S made sure to remind her of, with his lips and his own fingers. “I should be able to get you full use of that hand back by the morning, if 153 can take care of the stuff I can't...”

Aesthetically, her hands were back to how they were. He had worked through an entire night to replace all of the skin on her fingers and palms as painlessly as he possibly could. She had been awake for most of that, too. She had just kept apologising, over and over, as if this was somehow inconveniencing him, and he kept waving it away. In the end though, he realised why she was apologising – she could see what it was doing to him to see her in such a state, and it upset her, despite everything.

“2B... your other arm... I-I'll do my best, but –”

“Your best is fine, Nines,” she had said, softly and simply.

“But –”

“If it comes to it, we'll think about it then. I trust you, though.”

He smiled for the first time since he had been restarted.

 

**

 

2B lightly ran the fingers of her fully repaired hand through 9S's hair, as he lay beside her in the bed.

“We can't avoid it forever, you know,” she said. The parts she needed, and more, just for good measure, had been sitting there beside the bed for over a day now.

“I'm scared, 2B. Scared, so scared you've lost it – what if I... what if I made the wrong decision, back then?”

“There was nothing else you _could_ do, Nines...” she said, in soothing tones, her fingernails tenderly scratching him just behind the ear, making the boy almost purr and curl into her. “If it isn't fixable, we'll find another way. You know we will.”

“I just wanted –”

“I know,” she sighed, “but the fact we're here, together – that's more important than anything. Even if we never leave this room, ever again.”

“I don't want to leave this _bed_ again,” he mumbled into her chest.

“Me either.”

 

**

 

He needn't have worried. 153's cauterisation had been so clean, that with her help, he was able to rejoin the artery without too much trouble. It would take a while before she regained any feeling or function, but the work was done.

He slept for what felt like days after re-fitting her skin, and she simply held him close with her good arm, feeling him breathe. She was acutely aware that they hadn't discussed anything of importance yet, other than the immediate issues facing her and her body. When she was fully recovered, she thought, she'd fix his thigh, just as he'd done for her over the past week. And then they'd talk. They'd talk until their throats closed up. There was so much, almost _too_ much to talk about.

She planted a kiss on top of his head, then pressed her forehead against his, intertwined their fingers with her functional hand, and went into sleep mode herself.

 

**

 

“Okay, now if you just try to grip my finger with this...”

“It's... still a bit painful...”

“It will be... it didn't get any blood to it in almost a week. Sorry,” he added.

“If you apologise again, it'll be all the motivation I need to start using this hand to slap you across the face, Nines,” she said.

“O-oh, okay, sor- I mean, okay, 2B.”

 

**

 

They slept a lot as she recovered. Eventually, it became less painful for her to move her arm around freely, and the morning he woke up with both of her arms wrapped around him, he cried. He cried into her chest for hours.

“Thank you, Nines,” she said, almost crying herself.

He took her hand into both of his own and kissed it all over, from wrist, to palm, to fingers. Overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment, he even let himself take her index fingertip into his mouth, and tentatively ran his tongue over it, locking eyes with her the whole time. From her reactions, and the expression on her face, she had all but regained feeling there entirely.

He pressed her palm against his cheek, a contented smile on his face, and they both slept away another few hours.

 

**

 

“See? It's better now, isn't it?” 2B said, taking her turn to kiss the new skin on his thigh.

9S blushed, turning an almost unnatural shade of pink. “Y-yeah, I guess so...”

“Nines...”

The way she said the name he loved so much made him shiver. She had to know that too, he thought, as she stood up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning in to his ear.

“Nines... we have a lot to talk about.”

“I know...” he said, heart sinking. He'd been dreading that.

“Whatever it is, don't worry,” she whispered, leaning back and reading the expression on his face. “We'll work through it together. Do you honestly think I'd ever let you be alone again?”

His breath caught in his throat.

“2B...”

“Watching you the last week... it was hard. But in a way, it was also the most special time I've ever spent with you. Sometimes it's hard to believe you could want someone like me, care for me, no matter how many times we...”

“Of course I do,” he whispered back.

“Then you know that nothing will ever separate us again, don't you? You know that you have nothing to worry about,” 2B said, desperately holding eye contact with him. “We'll talk about everything, because... I don't want there to be any more secrets, Nines. But nothing you say can turn me away.”

She slipped off one of her gloves, and caressed his cheek with her bare palm. He leaned into the touch, and loosely grabbed her wrist with both hands, pushing her hand tighter onto his face.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE
> 
> Please leave a comment if you liked it, comments are what keep me motivated!

While 9S slept, she contemplated. Contemplated how she'd begin this long, arduous ordeal that they both had to go through. It should be her, she thought. It _had_ to be her. He had done enough talking, and she was more than well versed on his thoughts and feelings – what they both needed to know now was how he'd react to hers.

2B looked down at her hands, at her arms – she could touch him, push fingers into his hair, and... grip a sword again, because of him. Only this time, she swore it would only ever be to keep him safe.

There were only a few things she truly needed to discuss with him – she surmised that he knew the _facts_ , but not the emotions behind them. There were things that didn't need to be mentioned, too – things that didn't need to be dragged up. If there were things he had forgotten, things she had taken away, she'd give them back, but some things were unimportant, at least for the time being. One step at a time, she thought.

They slept beside each other, fully clothed. She longed for something more intimate, but she told herself that she wouldn't allow it until he could be pressed tightly against someone who had been entirely honest with him, in all the ways he deserved.

She felt him stir, and a wave of relief washed over her. Watching him rest was still a mental challenge for her – she could still only associate it with his lifeless form, and all the emotions that went with that. Watching him wake up, however, brought the same euphoric feeling, every time.

“Morning,” he said, his systems still coming to life. He dismissed a dozen error messages pertaining to his ill-fitting body parts, as a matter of course. She watched his eyes dart between them, even though she couldn't see them herself.

“I spoke to Anemone while you were resting,” she whispered. “She thinks she knows someone who can repair those joints, given enough time and the requisite parts.”

“Man, I sure hope so,” he replied, still adjusting to the light pushing its way through the gap at the top of the door. “It feels like I never even learned to walk right now...”

2B smiled. “I can carry you over to her, if you prefer.”

“Okay, I know I look like I do, but even I have my limits for humiliation,” he laughed. His laugh remained unchanged, no matter what. It was a laugh entirely for her; with others, it took on a different timbre, and it didn't linger as long.

As his laugh faded, her noticed that her smile had taken on a sad undertone. He knew why. He knew she wanted to talk, but he had skirted around the matter for a couple of days now, terrified he couldn't put her fears to rest. She had told him nothing would drive them apart, but that was partially what scared him – the thought of an eternity with someone whose worries and innermost troubles he couldn't soothe was terrifying. However, he also knew that it was eating her up inside, and that expression told him that putting it off further wasn't an option.

“If you need to talk, it's okay, I'm ready,” he said, as resolutely as he could muster.

“I can wait, if it's not the right time,” she replied quietly, “I don't want you to just say it because you feel like you should...”

“You know me better than that by now, 2B,” he said with a small, reassuring smile. He could tell that she had been waiting for him to wake up, just from the tone of her voice and the look on her face.

“I need to ask you something, first,” she began, finally, her breath shaky, her voice wavering.

“Whatever you need to do,” 9S replied, taking hold of her hand in his. “I know that this is – well, I know this is about _us_ , but it's also about you. You need this.”

She returned the gentle grasp, taking strength from his fingers wrapping around hers. She took a deep breath, before finally beginning a conversation she'd needed to have for what felt like a thousand long years.

“When I call you 'Nines', how does it... feel?”

“Huh? Well, I guess it's special, you know? It's the one thing you can say that reminds me that this is all... real, and we really did come this far together,” he said, an expression of deep thought painted on his face, as if he were pulling the feelings and words from invisible containers in front of his eyes. “It makes me feel warm, and safe, and... it makes me want to smile, no matter when you say it.”

“I see,” she said, placing her other hand on top of his. “I... want to be honest with you, Nines, but...”

“Hey, your words – _nothing you can say will turn me away_ – what kind of trash would I be if it didn't cut both ways?”

“Even so, I...”

“Please, not now... you don't have to keep it inside any more, so please...”

“D-doesn't it feel like a lie to call me... '2B'?” she finally pushed out, her face almost touching his.

His eyes opened a little wider for a moment. He hadn't really thought about it – to him, she'd always been 2B, but he knew what she was getting at. She wasn't 2B – not really.

“I... I don't have something like you do, and I don't especially want to force one either,” she continued, before pausing to think hard about her next words. “I realise a designation isn't the same as a name, and perhaps I'm being... difficult, but...”

“It's okay,” he said, releasing her hand and stroking her bangs away from her forehead, before kissing it gently. “You can tell me.”

“Even if it's just once, I...” she faltered, choking on her words.

“Go on,” he whispered, stroking her cheek with his knuckles.

“It's selfish, and to ask you of all people, but I... I want to hear you say it, just once...”

He smiled at her, understanding better than anyone how much it meant to her. Her eyes had filled with tears, and her bottom lip was trembling.

“It's not selfish at all,” he said softly, before cupping his hand under her chin, turning her face directly towards him. “You shouldn't worry about this sort of thing, 2E...”

Her eyes closed, and she pressed his hand between both of hers, holding it to her mouth, her lips on his warm skin. She breathed out, as tears slowly fell from the corners of her eyes. If she had worried he would be unable to say it, or if he would struggle, she needn't have. It was a hurdle he had overcome long ago.

“Say it again... please...” she said, almost begging him. “It's... so nice... to hear you say it...”

“You're so pretty, 2E, so pretty... please don't cry...”

She hiccoughed, before kissing his fingers, one by one.

“Please, don't stop... I...”

“2E... I love you, 2E...”

“I... you're so wonderful...” she managed to say, between sobs.

“It's your name, it's only right you should hear it whenever you want,” he said, his voice the most soothing sound in the world to her.

“You mean, you'll...?”

“If you want me to, well, yeah...”

She sighed deeply, wrapping her arms around him, before becoming mildly infuriated that his jacket was in the way of her feeling his warmth – she sought to rectify that immediately, one hand in his hair, while the other unfastened the buttons on the offending item of clothing.

“I love you too, Nines,” she breathed, as he helped her to help him out of the jacket, leaving him in a simple black shirt. Instantly, she tossed it to one side and pressed herself against his chest, savouring the warmth and the low hum of his black box. The low hum she would never have to hear fade out and go silent, ever again.

“Can I ask you something, this time?” he said, feeling her tears soak into his shirt.

“Anything,” she replied, instantly, albeit slightly muffled, thanks to her position.

“Why'd you do that to yourself back there, when... when you knew there was next to no chance of me pulling through?”

She pulled her head away from him, to look up at him with an incredulous expression.

“What would have been the point in going on without you?” she asked, half bemused, half shocked. “If it didn't work, then... without you, I...”

“I get it,” he said, slowly. “I didn't want to keep going without you, either, but... you really went that far, just for me?”

“What do you mean, 'just'?” she said, still in utter disbelief. “If you didn't come back to me, I would have died, Nines, right there.”

She looked so absolutely sincere in that moment, that he couldn't have doubted her if he was riddled with a hundred-thousand logic viruses.

“Alright,” he conceded, “but seeing you that way almost broke me too, you know...”

“I know,” she whispered, settling back into the crook of his neck.

“Hey,” he said gently, “and if there's anything else you want to talk about, you don't have to stop, you know...”

She stayed silent for a minute; perhaps thinking, perhaps deciding how to word what she wanted to say. It was impossible for him to tell, so he didn't push her, or follow his words up with anything – he simply continued to stroke her hair, until she was ready.

“I only wish I'd ended this sooner,” she said. “I feel like... such a coward.”

“You're anything but that...” He traced his fingernails in lines repeatedly down the side of her head, running them along the same place, over and over, doing his best to calm her.

“Am I, though?” asked 2E, without lifting her head from him. “I didn't take you away from all of this when I knew things that you didn't – I... I waited until now, at the very end of it all, when there was no risk any more...”

He could see the reasoning in what she was saying, but even so, he could see it from the other side, too.

“Just say you did take me away,” 9S started, slowly. “Say you took me away, told me everything, and then we messed up – YoRHa found us, we were overwhelmed by machines, whatever – then _everything_ would have been pointless, wouldn't it? It's not the act of a coward to treasure something – to treasure it so much that you'd do anything to protect it, no matter how much it hurts...”

She began a fresh round of sobbing after he finished talking, leaving him to kiss the top of her head, and whisper soothing sounds to her.

“You did everything you could to keep those memories safe, no matter what,” he went on, “and trust me, I... I know how that feels...”

2E finally looked up at him, her face whiter than usual. He must have known everything by this point – in a way, she was glad that she didn't have to explain everything to him. She was thankful, beyond thankful, that he seemed to have come to terms with her choices and reasons, even if he didn't know the specifics.

“You do?”

“When I thought I lost you for good,” he said, brushing her tears away with the back of a finger, “there were times when it was almost too much, times when I didn't think I could go on, not even a single step further...”

She never broke eye contact with him, not once, not for a second, no matter how many tears continued to fall onto his waiting hand.

“...but then, at the end, when the virus was taking me over, there was one thing I wouldn't let it take. You,” he said, smiling at her, now crying himself. “I wouldn't let it take _you_...”

She rested her forehead on his, feeling his shaky breath on her face.

“All that mattered was keeping that data, those memories safe, for just another minute longer, another second... that feeling is why I _never_ would've wanted you to forget the times we spent together,” he whispered, “because... they really were pure light, 2E...”

She kissed him, then – a soft, gentle kiss. There was no pushing back and forth, no fighting for dominance, no sexual undercurrent. Only her lips and his, grazing over each other, then pressing together.

“Sometimes, I feel I know you better than anyone, Nines,” she breathed, after they broke apart. “Sometimes... you say things that make me feel like I never truly understood you at all...”

“Well, the first one is definitely true,” he said, choking back another sob and forcing a smile onto his face again, “but just because I never got a chance to show you that side of me – it doesn't mean you didn't understand, you just didn't know...”

“You really do have an answer for everything, don't you?” she sniffed, a few traces of laughter mixed in with her tears.

“I try to...” he said, laughing himself when he heard those pleasant notes in her voice. “What was it? ' _We 9S models are the best around!_ '”

“I don't disagree,” she said, slipping a hand into his shirt to enjoy the feeling of his skin on hers – the feeling she had denied herself for so long. He practically purred for her, making the most contented sounds she had ever heard coming from his mouth; she was entranced by how precious he really was. It never really sunk in for her, and she always found another way to fall for him ever more deeply.

“Your hands are so soft,” he managed to say, accompanied by a nervous giggle, after he recovered from the initial shock of the sensation. “So warm, too...”

2E smiled, her fingers running all over his sensitive torso, making him squirm under her touch, as he pulled himself closer to her still. It was entirely down to him that they were soft and warm, and not the mangled remnants of what they should have been.

“Do you remember what you said about never wanting to leave this bed, Nines?”

“Yeah...?”

“Let's honour that, just for a little longer.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Words'? Where we're going, we don't need 'words'...
> 
> I wanted to redo their first time, properly. This is just how I see it going anyway!  
> This is probably my last 2B9S for a while, as I have a few ideas I want to write, and I have my other stuff to finish too.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!  
> Please leave a comment if you did, or if you hated it - feedback really does keep me going, and I want to keep the NieR fanfics coming ;w;

She pulled herself closer to him once again. The rhythmic, entrancing rising and falling of his chest intoxicated her, but she could no longer handle watching from a distance. His eyes were fixed on hers, unable to look anywhere else, even if he had wanted to. He had accepted every part of her, and that in itself was the only thing that she had yet to accept. A sound of deep longing escaped her lips in the form of a soft exhale, as if she were standing on a coastline, waiting for her husband to return from sea.

He echoed her sigh, his hand trailing from its position in her hair, downwards, to her neck, where his fingers lightly skittered across the skin there. She melted into him, her hand finding the small of his back, pressing him into her. She had touched him there a thousand times before, but this was different – her skin on his, his skin on hers... she felt as if she were burning up inside, and there was only one way to quench the fire. She wanted to love him with everything she had, to the point where he would never be able to forget her, ever again.

He was the one to take her by surprise with his lips – she thought he was going for her own, but no – he used the hand at the base of her neck to pull her head back ever so gently, yet forcefully, by her hair. He maneuvered his head underneath her chin to kiss her jawline, her neck, and her collarbone, making her gasp against her will, her sensors unable to keep up with him. With those simple motions, he already had her entirely under his spell, and she was powerless to resist.

Her naked body rubbed against his – it was a feeling she could never have anticipated, even after all this time. The soft skin of her thighs curled around his hips, her nipples pressed against his chest, and his hair bristled against her skin as he continued to kiss and lick her neck without pause. It was suddenly so evident to her, so damn obvious, how much he had longed for her too. She almost laughed at herself for being so foolish, thinking it was only her that could exhibit such selfish, _human_ urges. Her mouth fell open as he started to allow his teeth to wander to the meat of her neck, to the sides of her windpipe, nipping and nibbling softly, as he held her head in place. Not that she had any intention of moving it, but allowing him to do as he pleased with her felt... good. It felt freeing. And he had more than earned the privilege.

Not a single word had been spoken, and not a single word needed to be said. In this moment, all that existed was their desire for each other. His thigh brushed against her sex as he moved to kiss her chest, and she instinctively repositioned to grind on it.

She was thankful that her body was still her own, merely repaired – she would have been without the requisite parts to feel such pleasure, had the Pods been unable to recover this body – as would he. She had requested it from command long ago, to deal with the frustration she felt from being unable to be close to him. The same was true for him, although his choice was more thanks to the whispers circulating between scanners over how good it felt, and how it relaxed the mind for a time.

Feeling her wetness on his leg only seemed to spur him on further, as he began to kiss her breasts. The skin there was so sublime on his lips, that he almost seemed to lose himself in the moment, soft sounds forming in his throat. Sometimes he didn't even pause to kiss, he simply let his lips drag over the surface of those two perfect little mounds, delighting in the silky smoothness.

The hidden nature of his affection didn't escape her notice, however. He deliberately avoided her nipples, much as he had avoided her lips, and it was starting to become less of an annoyance, and more of a stinging insect, crawling around in her mind. She had two thoughts; did he want her to beg for it, or did he want her to lose patience and try to force herself on him? As far as the latter of those two possibilities was concerned, she wasn't willing to usurp him from his position of control whether he wanted it or not, even though truthfully, she could, at any point. She _wanted_ him to be in control, but the level of restraint it took her to allow him to tease her this way was almost too much for her to bear. That left begging, but she wasn't at that point just yet. He had yet to earn _that_ from her.

He knew exactly what he was doing to her, drinking in her reactions every time his tongue danced around the most sensitive points on her breasts. She would try to subtly push herself forward a bit, disguising it as a heavy breath, in an attempt to get him to graze even the smallest part of it, but he simply pulled his head back until she settled back into her original position. In some strange way, and for reasons he wasn't quite aware of, he delighted in depriving her of the most intense sensations. Watching her plead with him with her body alone, without even uttering a word – he was almost drunk on it. He could tell how much she craved him, and he wanted to make absolutely sure that that craving was at its peak before he gave her what she wanted.

Not that he didn't want it, too – his own member was throbbing, almost painfully so, rubbing against the bedsheets every so often as he found himself unable to resist the urge to thrust forward. The more turned on he became, the more determined he was to push her to her limit – even to find out what her limit _was_.

Somewhat reluctantly, he left her breasts with one final, lingering kiss, agonisingly close to her nipple, yet nowhere near close enough. His lips travelled further south, counting each rib with a kiss, and mirroring that action with a finger dragging down the other side, causing her breath to hitch every time he moved from one to the next. She placed a hand in his hair, simply to run her fingers through it, eager to make him feel even the tiniest fraction of what he was doing to her.

His lips and fingers converged as they cleared her ribcage, moving inwards to explore the soft, delicate skin of her stomach. The thin layer of 'fat', or whatever the synthetic equivalent was, belied the incredible strength of the core muscles beneath it – of course, he was well aware of that, as he skated his fingertips across her sides, her waist, and the little indent in the very centre of her taut tummy, the function of which wasn't clear to him. She squirmed and twitched, her body attempting to get away from a sensation that wasn't quite an itch, nor a scratch; not pleasurable, but not unpleasant, as he raked his fingernails down her sides.

He took immense gratification from her unwilling reactions, as he played her like an old world instrument. He relished every movement she didn't intend to make, as he sank his tongue into that strange depression in her stomach, and twisted it around and around inside it. The skin inside there had clearly never been touched by anyone else – perhaps with the exception of maintenance – but never like this. She let out a moan, entirely against her intentions; she was determined to stay still, but she was fighting an internal battle within herself to do so, as he found sensitive zones on her body that she didn't even know she had.

As she felt him move further away from those areas, she almost let out a cry of dismay as his thigh came away from her soaking wet mound – with nothing left to grind on, she resorted to rubbing her legs together, desperate to alleviate the white-hot ache. As soon as she started doing so, however, she felt a hand on her thigh, holding it still. She whimpered softly, her free hand moving of its own accord downwards, but she felt her wrist intercepted by his own hand. He caught her eye. He didn't need to shake his head, or tell her no; she already knew that such things weren't allowed.

She pushed outwards with her hips, praying for him to take the hint, and apply those perfect lips to her aching wetness. He simply smiled, choosing instead to plant feather-light kisses along her thighs. She knew it wasn't just about the teasing – it was evident that he wanted to show his love for every single part of her, too. He began to nibble lightly at her calves, whenever his teeth could find something to catch on, while his hands sought out the backs of her thighs, his fingernails digging into the soft flesh there.

They both knew that this had everything to do with the physicality of the situation, but they also knew that at the same time, it had absolutely nothing to do with that at all. Of course, they both wanted to experience each other's bodies, but to each of them, it meant something a little different, too.

He slid back up her body, entwining their legs as he made his way back to eye level. Smiling, he finally gave her what she had craved from the start. His lips pushed against hers, his movements needy – evidently, he had been struggling to hold off from this himself. As he kissed her, nibbling her bottom lip, his arms reached around to the back of his neck. She was aware of it, but didn't question it, despite her eyes trying to look past his head out of curiosity.

He spoke for the first time, then.

“Close your eyes,” he whispered.

She obliged, and as she did, felt his hands lightly caressing her neck as he resumed their kiss. She fought the urge to open her eyes, as she felt him fastening his own choker around her neck.

“Don't ever take it off, alright?”

“I won't,” she breathed. “Never.”

“Good,” he replied, as he resumed their kiss, and moved to straddle her hips.

 

A sharp intake of breath from her. A satisfied sounding exhale from him.

 

“I want to show you how much you mean to me... I want to show you that you're my world, too.”

She said nothing, her breath heavy on his face. After so long, he was the one to initiate. After so long, he still wanted her. After so long, he trusted her. He loved her. Despite everything, he loved her. No, _because_ of everything, he loved her.

His own breath became heavier and less composed as he rubbed the head of his sex against her entrance.

“This is real...” she said, quietly, more to herself than to him.

“Yeah, it is,” replied 9S, kissing her again as he slipped the very tip inside of her.

She let out a moan, muffled by his mouth covering hers. He was so close to her. So close in every way. She wanted nothing more than to be the one to give him the pleasure he so craved; the pleasure he so deserved. Their bodies were simply vehicles, gateways to the connection they needed.

“You feel... so good...” she whispered, as he broke away from her lips.

It was his turn to remain silent, as he pulled back, then firmly thrust inside her – she made a sound that permeated 9S to the very essence of his being, which only served to urge him on even further. He lowered his head to her breasts once more, taking her nipple into his mouth, and with his teeth held behind his lips, softly nibbled it, tugged at it, and ran his tongue over it. The varying sensations were pushing the poor girl over the edge, and she was soon overwhelmed by his quickening rhythm and the affection he was showing one of her most sensitive spots.

“I need you, 2E, so...” was all he could muster, given the circumstances.

“I – know...” she said, still flushing crimson at his use of her name.

“I always – did and – I always – will – _nnh_...”

She was almost breathless. Everything he said made her pulse rate rise ever faster, made her fall for him just a little bit more. His words were disarming, and his touch reduced her to a weak, powerless little girl, whose sole purpose was only to make him happy, to put a smile on his face and keep it there. She gazed at the face of the only one who would ever be able to make her feel this way, and watched it overcome with pleasure. She relished the fact that it was her body that was making him make such beautiful expressions, and wondrous sounds.

She had never really considered how he viewed her body before, but it had come sharply into focus when she saw the effort he had gone to to keep her arms, and especially her hands, as pristine as they were the day she was made. And now, seeing the way he had kissed every inch of her, the way his fingers caressed her skin, the sheer adoration in his eyes as he pushed inside her again, and again, and again... she was thankful she was able to be that for him.

She clung to those thoughts as long as she could, her mind becoming clouded, and full of the same bliss that she saw in him. He began to shudder on top of her, his thrusts erratic – she felt a warmth inside her, spreading outwards, as she met his peak with her own.

They called out each others' names. He bit into her shoulder. She clawed at his back. He pulled at her hair. She wrapped her legs around him, and denied him the right to withdraw. He collapsed on top of her, his energy reserves spent entirely. She relaxed her muscles, her tight grip giving way to a soft, loving embrace, as they rolled onto their sides. Her hands found their way to his hair again, as they both allowed themselves to slip into rest mode, wordlessly.

 

**

 

9S awoke first.

He leaned forward slightly, and murmured something into her sleeping ear, while a soft smile persisted on her face from hours before.

He pulled her tighter once more.

She was his, after all.

 


End file.
